The ionosphere-thermosphere can be considered to a certain degree as a system, which is externally-driven by the extreme-ultraviolet solar radiation. The main components in the regular variation are connected to the solar cycle, solar rotation and the diurnal cycle. However, anomalies and periodicities of several days, which cannot be related to changes in the solar activity at all times, were detected in ionospheric parameters. It is assumed that the total variation in the ionosphere is partly forced by waves coming from below. This thesis provides a clearer picture of the seasonal changes of wave phenomena observed in the ionosphere and its possible relation to lower atmospheric structures. Since such global disturbances in the middle atmosphere are termed as planetary waves (PW), such features in the ionosphere are declared as planetary wave type oscillations (PWTO), although a direct connection is excluded.Northern hemispheric maps of the Total Electron Content (TEC) derived from GPS-signals that are currently used for monitoring the ionospheric F-region in relation to space weather provide a basis for investigating PWTO applying space-time analysis methods to separate stationary and traveling wave components from the data. Compared to analyses of PW obtained by regular stratospheric reanalyses the seasonal behavior and possible coexisting wave activities during the considered period of time (2002-2008) are presented. Such a climatological consideration has revealed that recurring events in the course of the solar cycle are rare, but it seems that the westward propagating quasi 16-day wave with zonal wavenumber 1, analysed from stratospheric MetO reanalyses, and the ionosphere are indirectly coupled. Generally, the correspondence of other components are restricted around the solar maximum 2002-2005. There are some suggestions, how the middle and upper atmosphere are connected by PW. Sounding of the middle atmosphere by remote sensing techniques from satellites (e.g. SABER on TIMED) deliver a suitable basis to investigate the coupling by the modulation of gravity waves (GW). By calculating the potential energy for a certain wave spectrum, characterized by vertical wavelength shorter than 6 km, and determining proxies of traveling waves permits to investigate a possible mechanism. The results reveal that GW partly penetrate the lower thermosphere carrying a modulation by PW. In some cases, especially during the first three winter, near solar maximum, stratospheric PW show a good correlation to indirect signals in the lower thermosphere and to PWTO in the ionospheric F-region near 300 km.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:11238 |
| Date | 31 May 2011 |
| Creators | Hoffmann, Peter |
| Contributors | Jacobi, Christoph, Lühr, Hermann, Universität Leipzig |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | doc-type:doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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